GEN-003, a therapeutic vaccine containing recombinant herpes simplex virus (HSV) antigens, showed significant antiviral activity lasting up to a year and reduced the number of genital herpes lesions and days with recurrences, researchers reported this week at the ASM Microbe 2016 meeting in Boston.

A silicone intravaginal ring that releases the antiretroviral drugs dapivirine and darunavir was shown to reach levels expected to be effective in vaginal and cervical fluid and tissues in monkeys, researchers reported at the HIV Research for Prevention meeting last week in Cape Town. A related study found that a single ring can potentially serve multiple purposes, preventing HIV, genital herpes, HPV, and pregnancy.

An experimental herpes simplex virus (HSV) vaccine partially protected women against infection with HSV type 1 but not type 2, according to a recent report in the New England Journal of Medicine. Another recent study found that antiviral treatment with acyclovir (Zovirax) or valacyclovir (Valtrex) did not prevent periodic HSV-2 reactivation and viral shedding.

The risk of acquiring herpes simplex virus type 2 (HSV-2) was reduced by 46% among women who regularly used a vaginal gel containing tenofovir, according to a secondary analysis of the VOICE trial presented at the HIV Research for Prevention conference (R4P) this week in Cape Town. There was no significant difference in the age, marital status, country, practice of anal sex, HIV status, or hormonal contraceptive use between women who acquired HSV-2 and those who did not.

A vaginal gel containing the HIV nucleotide reverse transcriptase inhibitor tenofovir (known as Viread in pill form, also in the Truvada and Atripla coformulations) inhibits replication of herpes simplex virus, researchers reported in the October 4, 2011, issue of Cell Host and Microbes. Tenofovir gel has already been shown to reduce HIV infection by about 40%, and the new findings suggest it may have a dual benefit.

Tenofovir reaches lower levels in vaginal and cervical tissue compared with rectal tissue, helping to explain why pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) did not protect women as much as gay and bisexual men in clinical trials, and suggesting that women having vaginal sex may need to take PrEP more often than people having anal sex, researchers reported at the HIV Research for Prevention meeting this week in Cape Town.

Pritelivir, a helicase inhibitor that interferes with viral replication, reduced the rate of herpes simplex virus type 2 (HSV-2) genital shedding, which has the potential to reduce sexual transmission, according to a small study described in the January 16, 2014, New England Journal of Medicine.

HIV positive people who took tenofovir (Viread, also in the Truvada and Atripla combination pills) as part of their antiretroviral regimen were no less likely to shed herpes simplex virus 1 or 2 (HSV-1 or HSV-2) than individuals using non-tenofovir regimens, according to research described in the January 14, 2011, issue of AIDS. These findings are notable because a recent microbicide study found that a tenofovir gel reduced the likelihood of HSV-2 infection.

An experimental immune-modulating vaccine significantly reduced shedding of herpes simplex virus type 2 (HSV-2) in people with recurrent genital herpes, according to a late-breaker presentation at the 53rd Interscience Conference on Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy (ICAAC 2013) this week in Denver. The vaccine appeared safe and well-tolerated.